i bet he does to get out of there and play. He is not some 32 year old worried about his last EPL paycheck.
Exactly! A lot of times some US fans on here got really confused between clubs and NAT teams. As a club manager, TT is responsible for Chelsea winning. He doesn't give a rat ass about the US Nat team, or the French Nat team, etc. He will select and put the best players out there that will win for him today. And if it needs he need to run a few NAT players to the ground; so be it. Let me make it clear, Pulisic wasn't given special considerations today because of his NAT team duties. He was simply not good enough to play today, and it seems TT made the right decisions because the players he put out there today did get him the win.
I have said it before, TT's system is a nightmare for attacking players like CP, Werner, Havertz, Mount, etc. None of them look good under TT's system. Heck, Mount looks like world class under Lampard.
55 Million Pounds .... a sometime super sub? Nah. I bet they are willing to sell him at a loss now (make up his wages elsewhere and write some of that 55 off) to free up the cash. I bet they do the same with Werner. that gives them the cash to help on the wingback and with Rudiger. Azpi and Silva are not getting any younger.
exactly if anything TT just solidified his approach to keep Werner and Pulisic on the bench. Havertz was out due to Covid and a minor injury. he is also ahead of Pulisic and Werner in the pecking order.
Yeah. Today's system was different though. Mount was central or in a free role and combined a lot with Ziyech on the right. Cho was isolated on the left with less of a defensive role than typical for the LWB.
Except he's not a "sometime super-sub." He's got 1100 minutes this season, with injuries. He's a sometime starter/sometime super-sub/sometime-utility. That's very different. Maybe you're right and Chelsea care about the $ they'd net from selling CP and getting someone else who can play fill-in WB until Chill and James get healthy and who then will be a sub if they come back full tilt. But my guess is Chelski only sweats CP if CP is pushing them. If he's ok with fighting to get more minutes, and ends up with a 1500 minute season, I doubt Chelski is dying to move him. But we'll see. I'm just a dude at a laptop in the ethers.
I think Ziyech is one of the few attackers that have looked no worse if not a bit better than he did earlier, but it's boring way to play, that's for sure.
I wouldn’t put it in terms of helping US national team but in terms of knowing he will be probably logging a bunch of minutes and travel on national team duty so can we do something that gives him best chance of getting back to Chelsea healthy? There are no euro fixtures so those guys are getting rest. Play them.
It is 100% clear that TT does not rate CP as highly as Frank did and as many of us do. Disappointing but that's life-coaches get to choose the players. That's why players move.
What you say is absolutely true; however, a club manager that pays no mind to a player's national team, curries no favors from that national team, either. So, if a club manager wants his player to only play the first game of two national games, he's far more likely to get the national team manager to cooperate if he reciprocates. Not to mention, when a player considers his choices for a transfer, knowing how his choice affects his position with the national team, plays a role, depending upon how important a role on the national team is to that player. If the club manager has a reputation for not playing well with others, then it could be a tiny difference, all else being equal.
Look Ziyech scores goals from outside box. He scores goals on his own also. This is valuable. Pulisic is not doing this for quite some time. Sure it appears Pulisic doesn’t get benefit of the doubt often times for selection, but he’s gotta move this ‘half glass full/half glass empty’ argument himself by his play. It is all well and good to blame Tuchel and want him away. But that road is fraught with potential lingering liabilities: (1) get deep freezed in squad because you are leaving (2) Puli gets sold to the same or worse situation (3) Puli gets sold to a worse club (4) Chelsea can’t find a club that will take him at their valuation. Rather I say- leave that alone and bust your ass in training and every minute on pitchman get your level back to Oct 2019- Nov 2019 and June-July 2020….and things will sort themselves out for the best (new club or not). BTW- if anyone has found Pulisic’s lost 5th gear, please report to the thread immediately.
But has he really separated himself from the pack of attacker competition since Tuchel’s arrival? I say definitely ‘no’. Coaches have their favorites but Pulisic also hasn’t presented a good enough argument through his play (now 1 year under Tuchel again) You can’t live off what you did for the past coach. Time to prove it all over again. He shown glimpses but not near enough.
This is completely accurate. Although, Chelsea should not get too excited about the win today. Tottenham is abysmal. I am shocked at how bad they seem to be. And I have to say it again, some want Weston to go there. Hell no. anyway, back to CP. I would love to see Him in a top team in Italy.
Chelski has Spurs number - and their burner phone numbers. Spurs is just snakebit against them. Just give Chelski all the points and trophies and concentrate on other teams. It's almost funny.
I actually felt like CHO had one of his better games. That said, not once did he attempt anything with his left foot nor did he ever try to get to the end line. TT guarding CP’s minutes doesn’t cut the smell test. It was a big win for Chelsea so kudos for getting it right.
Agree with this...We'd love to think he's not playing because TT is managing is minutes to keep him fresh but the truth is TT is under pressure and would start him if he thought he was the better option at the moment. Just like Lampard ran him into the ground hoping CP would round into project restart form and save his job....CP was actually the best player on Chelsea during Lampard final few matches but just wasn't scoring enough.
Playing Lukaku satisfies the board. Playing CHO and MM satisfies hardcore Chelsea supporters. Winning satisfies RA. It could be that TT knows he has to survive the season to create a team where players like CP, Kai, and Werner flourish. Or maybe TT just wants to get paid for a year or two more.
re: your last point - as others have said - soft tissue injuries - I am still wondering if he has had a V02 test to see of lingering COVID effects. It has affected some.
don't they have FFP issues already? Selling at a loss doesn't help that. If it's purely a club thing, is there any evidence that Roman cares. His wealth increased by $3 billion last year, and he continues to spend about as much on yachts as he does on Chelsea.
yeah, exactly. As the Guardian noted recently, Puli occassionally looks like the goods, just not often enough to justify his price tag/be counted as an elite player. It was also noted that in the big games, he is, almost without fail, meh. OTOH, if they'e looking to dump him, Newcastle is pretty much up for buying anything right now. As for Puli not working in TT's system, not your point, where does he work? TT's system outscores Klopp's, at least it has to date. Neymar, under TT, had 41 goals and a bunch of assists in his 4600 healthy minutes across their two seasons. playing mostly from the left. The question becomes who does work to get the best out of Puli? If it means someone who is going to build a system to suit him, Puli has to prove he's worth that, by first tearing up the field in whatever system he's thrown in to. I mean, if he'd take a massive pay cut, I'm pretty sure Vermes or Bradley or any number of MLS managers would build their sides to suit him. As it stands, he hasn't given any elite level manager a reason to give him special treatment.
these sorts of lingering effects are going to keep coming up from now on, aren't they? given the battery of fitness and medical tests these guys go through on a daily basis already, I'd be shocked if the big clubs weren't running these things already. Bmunch caught Davies Covid-related heart issue
Getting sold to Newcastle would be huge step down. I would not take that if I am Puli. If you want to leave, be real patient ‘cause there are not a lot of strong club/strong fits/ Chelsea’s price. But it is probably there. Maybe the ‘American marketing potential’ helps him as well. Funny enough, maybe Juve is a fit with Chiesa out for a year and Dybala moving